


Playfulness

by Boots (pwnmercys)



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Animal Play, F/M, Fluff, Kink Discovery, Non-Sexual Kink, kinkmeme fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-10 17:52:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8926585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pwnmercys/pseuds/Boots
Summary: The look on Newt's face was something Tina had never seen before, carefree and relaxed.  She had seen bits and pieces of it when he was playing with his creatures, but this was something else.  Perhaps it wasn’t a human sort of playfulness at all.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt on the FBAWTFT kinkmeme:
> 
> Tina/Newt animal play - One time Tina accidentally pats Newt on the head and says "good boy!" Newt, uh, really enjoys it.

The surprise birthday party for Queenie had been carefully planned.  Tina had arranged for everything, from the decorations to the place settings to the beautiful cake and pastries Jacob had made especially for the party.  Jacob had also taken Queenie out to lunch, to give Tina enough time to prepare the apartment for her arrival.  

Tina was in the process of setting the table, waving her wand to lay the dishes and silverware exactly as she wanted them, when a pigeon had arrived from MACUSA with a message.  It informed her that they had gotten a new lead on one of her cases, and they needed her to come into the office for a few hours.  Tina glanced around the room, her eyebrows furrowing in concern as she saw how empty it seemed; no balloons, no banners, no cake or candles, nothing to show that this room was going to host a birthday party in a few hours’ time.  Certainly nothing worthy of her cheerful, effervescent sister.  She sighed.  There was simply no way she could finish this by herself, not to her satisfaction.  She grabbed a pen and paper and quickly wrote a message, summoning a pigeon of her own.

 _Newt,_  
_Is there any chance you could come early to the apartment and finish preparing for the party this evening?  I got called into work and I can’t get out of it.  The cake and pastries need to be transported from Jacob’s bakery and the room needs some decoration.  Please let me know if you can help.  I’m sorry for the short notice._ _  
Love, Tina_

No sooner had Newt received the message than he apparated into the apartment.  Tina left assured that Newt would do his best to continue to prepare for the party himself.

Finally, Tina returned home, weary from the day’s work and still worried that the party couldn’t possibly be ready in time.  She pushed open the door to the apartment, and her eyes widened to take in the flawlessly decorated room.  

The cake Jacob had made was a beautiful centerpiece for the table, with dishes full of delicious-looking pastries on either side.  There were also bottles of sparkling white and pink wine, adorned with curled ribbon, as well as pastel-colored balloons which floated in the air a foot or so below the ceiling.  A banner on the wall glittered with the words _Happy Birthday Queenie!_ , surrounded by smiling pictures of her sister that had been taken during the previous year.  Everything was perfect.  Newt himself was seated on the couch, tucked away into a corner and nibbling on a lemon pastry.

In her joy, Tina rushed over to sit down beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder and thanking him, telling him what a good job he’d done, telling him she was so pleased.  As she thanked Newt and praised him, her hand was absentmindedly rubbing his back, firm strokes up and down accompanying her words.  She barely took notice as Newt’s eyes became unfocused and his head tilted back with a soft noise.

The guests began to arrive shortly.  At the first knock on the door, Tina patted Newt’s head fondly, then stood and went over to the door to greet her friends.  Newt stared after her, feeling something tugging at him, some feeling with no name.  Though he was not quite sure why, he found himself compelled to follow her across the room, greeting the newly arrived guests with a handshake and an awkward smile.  

By the time Jacob and Queenie finally arrived, the mood was already cheerful and festive.  Queenie was thrilled, taking in the room with wide eyes and a bright smile.  Immediately, she began to mingle with the guests, catching up with one and casually flirting with another.  From his place against the wall, Newt observed Tina as she watched Queenie, a smile spreading across her face at her sister’s happiness.

The party was an excellent success.  After the last of the guests had gone, Newt found himself in the kitchen assisting Tina and Queenie with cleanup.  (Queenie had insisted on helping, “what with all the effort you guys already put in!”)  With the help of magic, everything was soon back in its place.  

Queenie retired to her bedroom early, leaving Tina and Newt alone in the living room.  Tina sat down on the couch, relaxing into the cushions with a tired but satisfied sigh.  Newt continued to stand awkwardly until Tina gestured for him to come over.  She patted the cushion beside her.  “Come on, come here.  You’re allowed to sit on the couch, you know,” she teased.

Newt wandered over and seated himself next to her.  He seemed a little weary from all of the social interaction of the party, and he slouched forward, staring down at his clasped hands as they twisted in his lap expending his nervous energy.  Tina rested a hand on top of his to still them, and Newt finally looked up at her, eyes wide and questioning.

Tina met his gaze with a gentle smile.  “Newt.  I can’t thank you enough.  You’ve been so helpful, the party couldn’t have happened without you.”  Her tone became lighthearted, teasing.  “You’re such a good boy.”  Her fingers combed Newt’s unruly hair back behind his ear, and her fingernails grazed lightly over the skin, giving him a little scratch behind the ear before starting to pull her hand away.

But Newt leaned into her touch, brushing his head against her hand. Tina watched as the look on his face changed, a relaxed and happy smile spreading across his features.  Indulging him, Tina scratched his head again, ruffling his hair with a softness in her eyes.  She loved when he felt he could let himself go like this, loved that he could be so playful and honest with her.

As Tina played with his hair, Newt’s eyes closed and a soft, pleased noise rose from the back of his throat.  It sounded almost like a purr.  His head turned and he nuzzled the side of his face against her hand.  He seemed so peaceful.  

Tina laughed, happy to see Newt so at ease.  She rubbed the back of her hand against his cheek, praising him softly.  “Yes, what a good boy.  Look at you.”  Her fingers brushed across his cheek to stroke his hair, this time petting the top of Newt’s head.

The purring noise came again, and Newt tilted his head to nestle it into his shoulder, his eyes closing in contentment.  He had stopped wringing his hands, his fingers instead splayed across the couch cushion in the narrow space between them as he leaned toward Tina.  

Tina couldn’t say how, but the noise Newt was making immediately endeared itself to her, almost as if she had heard it before in some pleasant memory.  Her hand moved back down to scratch the side of Newt’s head where it pressed against his shoulder.  Newt leaned into the scratches and hummed, a blithe smile on his face.

Tina was beginning to realize that this was more than simple whimsy to Newt.  The look on his face was something she’d never seen before, carefree and relaxed.  She had seen bits and pieces of it when he was playing with his creatures, tussling, tickling, growling; meeting them at their own level.  She had always thought of it as a sort of maternal instinct--was she allowed to call it that?--that he was playing as a parent might with their human children.  But this was something else.  Perhaps it wasn’t a human sort of playfulness at all.

Tina’s hand began to stroke slowly from the top of Newt’s head, along his neck, and down his back.  Newt pressed happily into her touch.  Now Tina was talking to him, low and gentle.

“Newt, is this something that you like?”

Newt seemed as if he were slowly coming back to himself, though he was clearly still contented.  It started with his eyes, his gaze becoming just a bit sharper.  In response to Tina’s question, he dipped his head and hummed.

Tina nodded, her voice still subdued.  “Is it something you’d want to do again?  More on purpose next time?”  Before Newt could think she was judging him, she added, “I really liked seeing you so happy.”

A twitch of Newt’s head, and he seemed to focus still more.  His words were slow and rough, as if his throat needed a minute to remember how to produce human speech.  “Y-yes.  Yes, I would.  If you would.”

Tina smiled.  “Of course I would.”  She nudged his shoulder, “My good boy deserves some more attention, after all.”

Newt looked down at his lap again, blushing.  But the sweet, flustered smile on his face was enough for Tina.

 

* * *

 

The next time they tried it, they were in Tina’s bedroom.  Tina was seated on her bed with Newt lying curled up beside her dressed only in his undergarments, his head resting in her lap as her fingers combed through the russet waves of his hair.  A gentle purr was coming from Newt, and his fingers were curled into claws as he kneaded at her thigh.

Tina’s hand moved to scratch the side of his face playfully.  “How’s my good boy?”

Newt made a happy snuffling sound at having been called a _good boy_ , burying his face in her palm with a look of contentment.  He raised his head to look up at Tina with a silly grin.

The scratching fingers moved from the side of his head to under his chin, and Newt chirped happily.  “Are you ready to play a game, Newt?”  Tina reached into her pocket to pull out a coin purse, a deep red pouch with a shiny golden clasp.  Newt’s curled fingers left Tina’s leg to go after the purse, trying to grasp it for himself.  “No, no, no,” Tina scolded, tapping the tip of his nose with a finger.  “We’re going to play fetch.”  She turned away from him to keep him from stealing the pouch, then opened it to take out a silver coin.  When she turned back to Newt, she held the coin over his head, tilting it so that the glossy metal surface of the coin caught the light.

Newt sat up, his attention focused on this new piece of treasure.  He snuffled again and nudged at Tina’s thigh with his hand.

Tina nodded.  “All right.  Fetch!”  She tossed the coin across the room, and Newt jumped down from the bed on all fours and scrabbled after it, his fingers still spread into clawed paws.  When he reached the shiny piece of silver, he grasped it in both of his hands and sat, playing happily with his new acquisition.

Tina tsked at him.  “Now, Newt, that’s not how we play fetch.”  She opened the purse and removed another coin.  “Let’s try again.  Fetch!”  This time she tossed the coin toward the opposite corner of the room.

Newt crawled after the new coin, still keeping the old one in his grasp.  He picked up the glistening silver, and placed the two pieces together in a spot in the middle of the room.  It was the beginnings of a pile, as Newt had no pouch of his own in which to store his treasure.

Tina shook her head.  “You’re supposed to bring them back to me, you know.”  She threw another coin, and Newt chased it eagerly, picking it up and adding it to his cache.

Their game continued, with Tina throwing coins and Newt stealing them, until all of the coins were gone.  Tina opened the purse and turned it upside down, shaking it out to demonstrate that it was empty.  “You’ve taken all my coins, Newt!  Are you trying to be a bad boy?”

Newt was curled around his hoard, his hands clawing at the coins and dragging them protectively toward his belly.  He shook his head at Tina and grunted, clearly pleased with himself. _Mine._

“Oh no you don’t!”  Tina got up off the bed and moved toward Newt, laughing a little even as she tried to keep a serious tone.  “You’ll be giving those back, you naughty little Niffler!”  She dropped onto her knees beside him, taking hold of his shoulder and flipping him onto his back, leaving him vulnerable to attack.  Newt squeaked indignantly.

Tina immediately went in for the kill, her hands moving to Newt’s belly, fingers skittering across the skin.  “There’s only one way to get those coins back, and I’m not afraid to use it.”  Newt squirmed, but he wasn’t laughing yet; she would have to try harder.  Tina’s fingers moved to his ribs, her strokes firmer now that she had found a more sensitive spot.  Newt was letting out intermittent snorts of laughter, his curled fingers swatting at her hands in an effort to get her to stop.  

But Tina’s hands only moved to his sides, her fingers digging into the tender skin under his arms where his roving paws couldn’t reach her.  At this point, both of them were laughing out loud.  Newt squirmed beneath Tina, trying to escape her ruthless hands, but to no avail.  He wiggled and whined as her fingers moved up toward his armpits.

Tina growled playfully at Newt as she continued to tickle him.  “Are you ready to give my coins back now?”

Newt snorted, his body convulsing with laughter.  He managed to nod, making a noise somewhere between a chirp and a whimper, begging her to stop.

Finally, Tina relented.  “All right, all right.”  She pulled back, scooping up all of the coins and putting them back into her coin purse.  She patted Newt’s head and said matter-of-factly, “Thank you.”

The sound Newt made was part trill, part growl.  He shook his head with a sniff, disgruntled at having his treasure stolen but still pleased that Tina was playing with him.

Tina tucked the pouch back into her pocket and went back to the bed, this time taking one of the blankets and spreading it out on the floor before seating herself there.  She patted her thigh, encouraging Newt to come join her on the blanket.  “Come here!  There you are.  Finally decided to be good, hmm?”

Newt crawled over and sat back on his knees before Tina, his hands resting on the blanket in front of him.  He looked up at Tina, who raised a hand to scratch him again under his chin.  Newt snuffled excitedly, his curled fingers kneading at the carpet as he leaned into her touch.

Tina patted her leg again.  “Do you want to sit on my lap?”

Newt responded with a nod and a soft grunt, shuffling forward until he could settle himself into her lap.  His paw moved to the hand on Tina’s thigh, patting it gently with his fingertips as he nudged at her shoulder.  He looked at her and grunted again.

Tina understood.  Her hand came up to stroke his head, ruffling his hair and then smoothing it down again.  Her other arm wrapped around him and and gently drew him close.  She began to stroke her hand down the side of his neck and across his shoulder, and her face nuzzled his hair as she leaned down to kiss his forehead.

Newt hummed and tilted his head upward, nudging at her cheek with his nose and then rubbing the tip of his nose against hers before leaning in briefly to kiss her.

Tina laughed in surprise.  She petted his hair again, praising him softly.  “Such a good boy.  You’re so good to me, Newt.  I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Newt gave her a lopsided smile, before lowering his head to nuzzle at her neck.  His voice was quiet but sincere as he whispered against her skin.  “Nor I without you.”


End file.
